Footprints in the Snow
by Everybody's Neesan
Summary: Machi watches the snow fall, and thinks of a certain promise. Oneshot.


I realise this theme may be slightly done to death, but I wanted to contribute to Fruits Basket fanfiction.

Unfortunately, Fruits Basket belongs to Takaya-sensei, not me. I do own all but the last volume of the manga though...

* * *

"Oh, look!" Tohru exclaimed. "It's snowing!"

Yuki looked up from his book to see Tohru standing on the porch, watching the snowflakes fall. "It hasn't snowed in such a long time; not since last winter!" she said happily.

As he watched the snow falling to make a perfect white blanket over the garden while Tohru's brown hair stirred with the gentle breeze, Yuki found his thoughts drawn to another brown-haired girl.

"I'm going out," he said abruptly, dropping his book and standing.

"Now? In this weather?" she asked, turning back to look at him worriedly. "Is something wrong?"

"No, Miss Honda, nothing's wrong," he said with a reassuring smile. "I just remembered something important."

"Well, don't forget to take a coat, Yuki. You don't want to catch a cold!" she said with a warm smile. "Be safe!"

"I will," he answered, and headed for the door, passing Kyo on the way out.

"Where's that damn rat going?" Kyo asked, coming into the living room and settling himself at the table.

"He didn't say," Tohru replied. "He just said he remembered something important."

x

In the darkness of her room, Machi sat in silence. Clothes and papers lay scattered across the floor and on top of her desk, and the bed she sat on was rumpled and unmade. A nearby streetlight provided the only illumination, shining a shaft of light through the window and across the littered floor.

_It's snowing_, she thought dully, staring out the window. The thought brought back memories of streets lined with perfect sheets of snow, which made her shudder. "I hate perfection!" she shouted angrily, jumping up from her bed with her hands clenched. Even as she shouted, an image of a boy labelled as perfect flashed through her mind, and the memory of the warmth she felt when Yuki smiled, just for her.

"He promised," she muttered, her fists curling tighter. "'If it should keep on snowing like this, shall we go make those footprints together? It's a promise then.' That's what he said."

She let her head fall forward, and stared blankly at the floor as her hair swung forward like a curtain to cover her face. "But… I guess he doesn't care. After all, why would he? He's the 'prince' of the entire school, and I'm… just a nobody."

With a sigh of resignation, Machi straightened and picked her way across the floor to the door. She shrugged on her coat and pulled on her shoes, then went outside to make her footprints alone.

x

Machi had made the trip up and down the street twice when she realised that there was another set of footprints next to her own, and the crunching sound the fresh fallen snow made as she walked was out of time with her steps. Startled, she looked up, and found Yuki pacing beside her, a gentle smile on his face.

"Good evening, Machi," he greeted her. "Isn't it a beautiful night?"

Immediately, she blushed and looked away. "I hate the snow," she muttered sullenly.

"But it is quite pretty," Yuki commented, unfazed. "Just like you."

Machi realised that she was staring at him open-mouthed and quickly turned away again. _I must have misheard,_ she thought, scolding herself for even thinking he would say something like that.

"It's a little cold though," he continued. "You're shivering. Why don't we go get a coffee to warm up?"

"Fine," Machi muttered as her heart leapt.

x

Outside, the snow still fell, but the atmosphere inside the coffee shop was warm and filed with the aroma of freshly ground beans. "What would you like?" Yuki asked, looking over the menu at her.

"Whatever's fine," she answered, not bothering to look at him. Instead, she kept her gaze fixed on the snowflakes gently drifting down to cover the street outside in white.

"Two cappuccinos, please," Yuki said to the waitress with a gentle smile.

Machi felt an awkward silence grow between them, and was quite relieved when the waitress returned. "Here you go," she said with a smile and a wink at Yuki. "Anything more I can do for you, just let me know."

As the girl walked away, hips swinging invitingly, Machi silently seethed. How dare she? She was sitting right here with Yuki…

"I'm leaving," she said flatly, and stood up.

"But your cappuccino has just arrived," Yuki pointed out. "Don't you want it?"

"It doesn't matter," she answered, horrified to feel tears gathering at the corner of her eyes. "Enjoy it with that waitress." She snatched up her bag and almost ran to the door, ignoring the pleased look the waitress was giving her, and stumbled out into the cold again.

Before she had taken more than a few steps, a hand grabbed her arm. Reacting on instinct, she swung her bag around until it connected with the person's head, making whoever it was let go. Panting with anger and adrenaline, she whirled to deliver another blow, and found Yuki with his eyes screwed close and a hand to his head.

"What was that for?" he asked painfully. "And what on Earth do you keep in that bag? Bricks?"

"Of course not!" she retorted angrily, her face aflame with embarrassment. "I hit you because you freaked me out! Who just grabs someone in the middle of the street like that?"

"There must be _something_ heavy in your bag," he said, rubbing the rapidly appearing lump on his head. "What is it?"

Machi mumbled something Yuki didn't catch, so he asked again. "It's my Mogentai paperweight!" she finally yelled angrily. "Happy now?"

As she realised what she had said, the colour drained from her cheeks. "I mean…" she began, desperately searching for something to cover up what she'd said.

"I'm glad," Yuki told her simply. Machi gaped at him. "I'm glad you liked that present enough to keep it with you. Would you mind if I gave you another present, right now?"

"W-What? A present? Now?" she asked nervously. "But I don't have anything for you…"

"That doesn't matter," Yuki said with a light laugh. "This present we can share."

And he leaned forward and brushed her lips with a delicate kiss.

* * *

Sorry for the mushiness... it just happened that way.


End file.
